Gimme a Lip

Here's a not-so-secret secret-I love a full face of makeup. Flawless foundation, well-rested (looking) eyes, long lashes, rosy cheeks-you get the picture. But I've always coveted the looks of women who appear to be wearing little to no makeup, yet somehow look perfect. Maybe their skin is a little dewy, their eyes are a little soft from the lack of black eyeliner rimming their peepers, but they look effortlessly cool.

So when I saw the Glossier ads all over the subway one morning, where all of the women are barefaced with just a hint of brow, concealer, and lip makeup, I was intrigued. If you're not familiar with Glossier, let me give you the briefest of overviews. Launched by beauty blog “Into the Gloss,” they emphasize that "Skincare is essential Makeup is a choice (make good choices)," emphasizing that a good skin care regimen is the foundation of a great looking face. Last spring, they launched Phase II, a small makeup line of brow gel, concealer, and a lip tint. They later launched a couple other products, including an oh-so-dewy highlighter.

Unfortunately (for me), many of their Phase I skin products contain a version of Propylene Glycol*, which I am very allergic to, so I stuck with trying their makeup, specifically Generation G (and also their highlighter, but we’ll focus on that another day).

Glossier describes Generation G as "a new kind of lip color that gives the look and finish of a stain, but that glides on and wears like a tinted balm." They sell 6 different colors-three that are close to "natural" lip shades, and three that offer a bit more of a color pop. After much debate, and telling myself to not just order all six, I decided to start with Cake, a brownish nude that looked flattering on the girl with a similar skin tone to mine on the Glossier website. A few months later, I also picked up Jam and Zip, purply and poppy colors, respectively.

I can honestly say it's different than any other lip product I've ever tried. Imagine lipstick, then take away about half of the moisture, and half of the color. The effect? Buildable, lightweight, sheer-matte coverage. You can see the effects of one swipe and a few more in the photos at the bottom, plus my full lineup of colors.

Generation G isn't really drying, but it isn’t really moisturizing. I tried adding a little lip balm under my first swipe, but I lost the matte finish. It has a pretty good lasting-power, and since it's sheer anyways, a bit of fading isn't that noticeable (specifically with Cake, though the others tend to evenly fade, rather than just on the inner lip ring).

Overall, I'd recommend this if you're looking for an easy way to get a little color on your lips, with very minimal effort. The price tag is a little steep at $18 for a small tube, but I was able to find a 20% off and free shipping code via a quick Google search. Has anyone else tried Generation G or the other products from Glossier? What do you think?

*I'll revisit my allergy to Propylene Glycol in a soon-coming post. If you happen to suffer from this frustrating allergy as well, I'd love to hear from you!

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